News and Opinion

A sombre and serious Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to be ‘strong against terrorism’ in a controversial speech where he also blamed British interventions abroad for raising the threat level. As campaigning resumed following the horrific bomb attack at the Manchester Arena which left 22 people dead, Corbyn attempted to head off potential Conservative attacks on […]

This week’s attack on Manchester has rocked us all to the core. On the front page of The New European, cartoonist Gary Barker captures the deep sense of loss perfectly – 22 pink balloons escaping the grasp of a little girl. Campaigning in the General Election is resuming and the security of our nation will […]

Responses to the bombing will be a test of the resilience, maturity and cohesion of both society and party leaders The nihilistic horror of the Manchester Arena bombing threatens to suck much of the already-thin air out of Britain’s election campaign, whether or not that was the solipsistic perpetrator’s intention. Tax rates, Theresa May’s U-turn […]

We pick out the most wrong and unstable Leavers of the week 10) Aidan Powlesland The UKIP candidate for South Suffolk launched his election campaign by calling on the government to develop interstellar travel and begin fracking in the asteroid belt for ‘water and/or platinum’ by 2026. Powlesland also hinted that Paul Nuttall could one […]

Professional gobshite Katie Hopkins is to leave her LBC show ‘immediately’ after calling for a ‘final solution’ following the Manchester bombing. The former Apprentice and Big Brother contestant used the Nazi term following the atrocity, which saw 22 people killed and dozens injured after a suicide bomber detonated a device as concert-goers left the Manchester […]

Election news, analysis and reaction on May 26. .

How the indomitable spirit of our city dwellers renders terror pointless Two ladies walked out of the shopping centre in Manchester and straight up to the reporter. They were of what the French call ‘a certain age’ and they were arm-in-arm. One of the ladies flicked her long black hair back, then turned to look […]

Live updates and chat from Question Time .

How lost trust in once-mighty institutions created opportunities for populism ‘People in this country have had enough of experts’: the assertion was striking not only because of its audacity, but because of the person making it. Michael Gove, the then Justice Secretary, was one of the most intellectual members of David Cameron’s Cabinet, formidably articulate, […]

The Labour leader and Jedi master may look remarkably similar, but do they sound similar? .

Russian film Loveless landed with a wallop, representing the first serious contender for this year’s Palme d’Or. It’s a weighty, heavy, compellingly grim look at modern Russia and confirms its director Andrey Zvyagintsev as one of the top film makers around, even if Putin might not see it that way. Like his recent Cannes entry […]

Cannes celebrated the opening of the 70th edition of its film festival with a knotty, indulgent film about a knotted, indulgent film maker Marion Cotillard in Ismael’s Ghosts – Credit: Archant Here on the Croisette, at least, they know their audience. Ismael’s Ghosts, by Arnaud Desplechin, premiered at Cannes before wider release across France, its […]

The latest from the globe’s most glamorous event that is taking place from 17 to 28 May 2017 Celebrating 70 years of movie history, the Cannes Film Festival kicked off with its customary flurry of red carpet glamour and serious film clout. Amid heightened security including airport-style machines at the entrances to the Palais des […]

The devastation Brexit is bringing to the NHS will be felt from the moment a patient is admitted to hospital, right through the course of their treatment The message couldn’t have been clearer. Leave the EU and give £350 million a week to the NHS. At a time when the NHS was clearly struggling, it […]

The global titans and statesmen of yesteryear have gone. And we may never see their like again I recently read Michael Zantovsky’s excellent biography of Vaclav Havel, the great playwright, dissident and first post-Cold War Czechoslovak president. The book’s cast of characters struck me over the head like a 517-page weight. Lech Walesa, Mikhail Gorbachev […]

Politicians are refusing to debate Brexit, so the Convention on Brexit had to show them how it’s done, Irrational negativity plays such a large part in our lives during these fractious times that we forget that human relations are usually harmonious and cooperative. Nothing is more likely to underline this truth than when you stage […]

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the Manchester suicide bombing which killed 22 victims, including an eight-year-old girl. People running through Manchester Victoria station after an explosion at Manchester Arena. @Zach_bruce/PA Wire – Credit: PA The attack on concert-goers at the Manchester Arena was the worst terrorist incident to hit Britain since […]

Politics is a matter of sentiment, of attitude and feeling. Tactical voting is essential in this general election. It does not matter how big a majority a Brexiter MP has in your constituency, the national aggregate of votes cast for anti-Brexit candidates matters. And in constituencies where a combined tactical vote could oust a Conservative […]

Is Donald Trump’s misfiring presidency spiralling towards impeachment? We delve in to the chaos engulfing Washington There’s a theory doing the rounds on Capitol Hill that Donald Trump suffers from a condition called the Dunning-Kruger effect. In short, it’s a phenomenon in which an incompetent individual is too incompetent to understand his own incompetence. Or, […]

Embracing political identity on a tribal level can lead to disastrous decisions A staunchly left-wing friend of mine tweeted earlier this week that they were clinging to the vague (but still existent) hope that Labour could turn things around in the short time remaining before the election, that, in her words, ‘we might win’. I […]

Election news, analysis and reaction on May 22. .

Thoughts on Thornberry and campaign tales It was a wonderful sight to behold – Emily Thornberry in full Panzer mode on Marr telling Michael Fallon he was talking ‘bollocks’. Andrew Marr was so shocked he remained mute. Fallon didn’t quite know what to say. The rest of us watching just roared with laughter. I’ve always […]

Brexit not only drastically exacerbates the NHS’s current problems, it also poses an existential threat to it The two top issues of the General Election – Brexit and the NHS – are entwined. The fact that Brexit is dire news for the NHS is slowly starting to drip into public awareness. But a slow drip […]

Now, he’s on his way over – but what really changed his mind? ‘I don’t do Europe. They hate Americans,’ said American comedian Jim Norton in 2011, at the start of an eight-minute vilification of Europe which was broadcast on the New York-based Opie & Anthony radio show (which Norton co-hosted). I was listening to […]

Election news, analysis and reaction on May 21. .

Would the possibility of a link between heading the ball and dementia have changed the way you approached the sport? This Friday will be a sad, sad day, as we say farewell to our former teammate Peter ‘Nobby’ Noble. We were part of the Burnley side that our manager Jimmy Adamson called ‘the team of […]

Election news, updates and analysis on May 20. .

1. What would happen if Labour actually won the 2017 general election? Election editor Michael White plays make believe 2. Theresa May’s Brexit at any cost means sending the NHS over a cliff, says editor at large Alastair Campbell 3. We’ve had the lies. Now it’s time to face the truth about an NHS in […]

Here’s why 100 years on, echoes of the Spanish couturier can still be found in most women’s wardrobe Balenciaga Air France uniform – Credit: Archant The name might only be vaguely familiar to those who don’t know fashion history, but most women’s wardrobes hold traces of Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972). That cocoon coat you own? He […]

Because of the success of the £350m Big Lie, Tory politicians now feel free to make any promise without feeling a matching pressure to keep it. One of the most effective things Theresa May’s Leave trailblazers did was to make a direct link to health with their claim that if we left the EU we […]

What would happen if Theresa and the rest of Team May have got it all wrong? Let’s suppose Theresa May and her minders have got it all wrong, Unite’s Len McCluskey too, and that she manages to lose her ‘Me Election’ double-digit lead as the campaign ends. No, I don’t suppose it’s because she’ll be […]

We pick out the wrong and unstable leavers of the week 10. Boris Johnson Granted a rare day release from Lynton Crosby’s secure facility, the Foreign Secretary visited a market in Newport and told a comic book seller that his favourite character was The Hulk. No clue why Boris should relate to Bruce Banner, an […]